


Sinking

by Anonymous



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Child Abuse, Help, Hurt/Comfort, Might add more tags, Tommy and Tubbo have wings, and the rest of the gang doesn't, but not for too long i swear, do not ship tommy and tubbo that is weirdchamp, guys im trying i promise ill give him more lines, guys it didnt work techno still has no lines, help i didnt know what to make the title, hi so this is the first thing i've written like ever, honestly idk yet man, i have 10 pages written of this in google docs but it looks so SHORT in ao3, i just had to get this out of my brain ok, i just realized that techno has no lines, i probably will, im impatient so i decided to post the second chapter immediately, its probably bad i wrote this in like two hours lmao, may or may not finish this idk, or do they, platonic, platonic cuddles, tommy also has cat ears and a tail because i say so, tommy's dad is bad :( but he gets beat up eventually, tubbo also has wolf ears and a tail because i also say so, tubbo is a badass because i felt like it, uhh theres like government people or something trying to capture tommy n tubbo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:53:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27649832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Basically, Tommy and Tubbo are animal hybrid things (and the rest of the gang might be too) so yeahAlso Tommy's dad sucks and we do not like him. he is bad
Relationships: all platonic here :), none my dudes, you can read it as skephalo if you want
Comments: 5
Kudos: 166
Collections: Anonymous





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi! thanks for reading this, sorry if its bad i wrote this in like two hours and never looked at it again  
> hope you enjoy  
> sorry if its confusing my dudes, i couldn't figure out how to do italics and i didnt feel like looking it up
> 
> Tommy has soot-colored wings & black cat ears and tail  
> OH and he also has bird feet kinda like a bald eagles
> 
> Tubbo has soot-colored wings & gray wolf ears and tail

It was a sunny day in London as they drove into Tommy’s neighborhood. The Sleepy Boys had met up for a weekend to celebrate the fact that Techno was moving to the U.K, but now it was time for everyone to go home. The car was silent, but a friendly kind of silence, like when you’re on a road trip with family. Wilbur, sitting in the passenger seat (Phil was driving) shot a glance back at Tommy, who was sitting between Tubbo and Techno. He was worried about the kid; a couple times, when one of them had made a hand motion, Tommy had flinched, and as they grew closer to Tommy’s house he seemed to be getting tenser and tenser. Wilbur shook his head. If there was something going on, Tommy would tell them.  
Tommy fiddled with his hands anxiously as they pulled up to his house. He’d forgotten to pay the electricity bill before he left, and he was worried about what his dad might do. He won’t hurt you, Tommy tried to reassure himself, He promised he would stop. It didn’t help much, though; the last time he’d forgotten to pay a bill, his dad had beat him nearly unconscious. At least he hadn’t been locked in the Dark Space again. He shivered involuntarily, not noticing the concerned look his friends threw him. The Dark Space was really just a cabinet, but he’d dubbed it the “dark space” when he was little and it stuck. When his dad was really mad, he would lock Tommy inside of it overnight, and a few times even a full day.  
He just hoped his dad wasn’t too mad.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
His dad was mad, as it turned out. As soon as he opened his door he was met by his fuming dad. Oh, shit. Tommy’s dad leaned down to be eye level with Tommy and snapped angrily at him about not paying the bill. His dad raised his hand and the boy flinched, closing his eyes in preparation for the blow. But it never came; unbeknownst to him, Phil had parked the car on the other side of the street, wanting to make sure Tommy would get inside alright. And he, along with Tubbo, Techno, and Wilbur, had seen the whole thing. With a small curse, Tommy’s dad grabbed his son by the wrist and pulled him into the house, slamming the door behind him.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
“Did- did you guys see that too?” Wilbur asked quietly, turning to stare at the people who were basically his family.  
“If we’re talking about the same thing, yes.” Phil whispered, his gaze focused on the door where Tommy had disappeared.  
Tubbo and Techno were silent, but for very different reasons. Techno was furious, his fists balled in rage, his mouth clamped tightly shut so he didn’t say something he would regret. Tubbo, on the other hand, looked on the verge of horrified tears, and was trying his best not to cry. Wilbur opened his mouth to reassure Tubbo when there was suddenly a loud crash from Tommy’s house.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Shit, shit, shit. Was essentially Tommy’s thought process as he bolted down the stairs with his go-bag (a small backpack packed with essentials for when his dad got really mad), hearing his dad bellowing behind him. There was a loud crash as he flung the door open and he realized that his dad had thrown a stack of plates at him. A burst of pain cut through his leg as he got cut by a piece of glass. He cursed under his breath and bolted, turning sharply to the left, where his usual hiding spot lay. It was a large tree that grew on the right side of his house that was relatively easy to climb. Quickly, he scrambled up the tree to the small V of branches that he typically sat in. Through a gap in the leaves, he watched his dad walk past, fists clenched as he searched for his son. Once his dad had passed, Tommy bolted into his house. He had to get away for a few nights. Tubbo’s house again, probably; his friend wouldn’t mind. Tommy had done it before (though he never told Tubbo why). He grabbed a portable charger for his phone and a large pack of trail mix before sprinting out of his house. He didn’t see his dad anywhere. Fuck. He had to know where his father had gone; and so, making yet another split second decision, he released his ears from under his skin. Instantly, he could hear 100 times better. He heard the faint shuffle of clothing and turned towards the sound, spotting his dad rounding a corner and walking back towards the house, muttering angrily to himself.  
Nope, nope, nope, fuck this. Tommy shoved the charger and the trail mix in his backpack and ran, sprinting down the street, fluffy black ears flat against his head. Throwing a glance behind him, he saw his dad wasn’t following. Thank god. Soon he rounded another corner, and arrived at the park near his house. As he sat down against the base of a tree, he did a quick assessment of his injuries. A shallow cut on the back of his left leg from one of the plates (thankfully with no glass stuck inside), a nasty bruise on his shoulder from when he’d tripped and hit a counter while he was getting his go-bag, and a small bruise on his neck when his dad had punched him earlier.  
His phone buzzed.  
It was from his dad.  
“You’re kicked out.”  
He stared at the text for several seconds, some small part of his brain reminding him to hide his ears. You don’t want to be taken like mum was. He shoved the thought away as tears pricked in his eyes. Tubbo- I need to call Tubbo. He didn’t have to, however, as a familiar car rounded the corner. Phil’s car.  
Fuck- what are they doing here? A sudden thought invaded his mind. Oh my god, did they see what happened? With that thought in mind, he did something stupid.  
He bolted.  
It wasn’t the smartest option, but he was shaking and crying and he didn’t want his friends to see him like this. Distantly, he heard Wilbur yell something, but he wasn’t paying attention as he launched himself into a tree. Again, probably not the smartest option, but some instinct inside him whispered, tree. safe. He remembered his mum telling him about this. “Your animal instincts will come out sometimes, especially when you are stressed. Sometimes, instincts for one animal will be stronger than another, depending on which gene is more prominent.” He wished mum’s instinct to flee had been as strong as his. She favored her tiger gene more than her bird gene, and so when they came, she fought. Tommy ran. His bird gene was stronger than his cat gene.  
He huddled into the tree, the height reassuring him. Nothing could reach him up here. Tears still ran down his cheeks, and he heard footsteps. Tubbo, he hoped. Tubbo had the old genes, too. But it wasn’t Tubbo. It was Wilbur. Of course, he realized distantly. They would’ve told Tubbo to stay in the car. He stared down at Wilbur, shaking, wanting so badly to curl his wings around himself, despite the fact that a. Wilbur didn’t know he had wings and b. He would probably be seen and taken away, just like mum. So his wings stayed hidden.  
“Tommy?” Wilbur whispered softly. His friend’s quiet sobs and his tear-streaked face broke his heart.  
Tommy just stared back at Wilbur, his mind fighting itself. He’s your friend- run- you can trust him- you thought you could trust dad, too, look where that got you- fly, fly, fly,- fight him, unleash your claws- trust him- Tommy was sinking, drowning in his thoughts. He curled further into the tree with a small whimper, pressing his hands against his head in a fruitless attempt to stop his thoughts. Tubbo. Where’s Tubbo? Trust Tubbo. “T-Tubbo..” He whispered, barely loud enough for Wilbur to hear.  
The man frowned, trying to decipher what Tommy had said. “..You want Tubbo?”  
Tommy nodded, hands still clasped around his head. He didn’t hear whatever Wilbur said next before jogging away to get Tubbo.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Tubbo looked up as Wilbur came back to the car. “Tommy wants you.” Wilbur whispered, jerking his head in the direction of Tommy’s tree. Tubbo nodded and quickly left the car, sprinting towards the tree.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
He came to the base of the tree, just like Wilbur did. But unlike Wilbur, he climbed up the tree and sat next to Tommy. Flock, Tommy’s mind whispered. Safe. Tubbo opened his arms, and without a second thought Tommy launched himself at Tubbo, wrapping his arms around his friend like Tubbo was the only thing keeping him from sinking. Tubbo let his friend sob into his shoulder until Tommy began to calm down, his breathing more regular. “Tubbo.. I-” He cut himself off with another sob. “My dad kicked me out.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it all goes to shit and so does my writing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i got impatient ok

Eventually, Tubbo calmed Tommy down enough to get him to climb down from the tree and walk towards the car. Tommy insisted on holding Tubbo’s hand the whole way. Call him clingy, but he needed it. Besides, his mind told him Tubbo was the only one he could trust. Which was bullshit, obviously, but that didn’t stop him from getting nervous when he saw his friends. Tubbo squeezed his hand reassuringly as they approached. Phil carefully walked over, and Tommy tried his best not to flinch.  
“...Are you ok?” Phil asked quietly. Tommy stared at the ground for a few moments, debating on whether or not to tell them the truth. Trust-don’t-friends-might hit-friends-trust-trusted dad too-friends- He cut his thoughts off.  
“I...My dad kicked me out.” Tommy blurted, and then immediately regretted it as Phil’s face darkened with rage.  
“Why?” Phil asked softly, and Tommy tensed. It was similar (but not the same) to the tone his dad used to use when he was about to get in trouble.  
“I was late paying the electricity bill.” He watched, scared and somewhat confused, as his friend’s faces grew angrier. Were they mad at him, too, for not paying the bill on time?  
“Tommy.” Wilbur interjected. “He had you paying the electricity bill?”  
“Y-yeah, and the water bill, and the internet bill.” He mumbled, hyper-aware of his surroundings. Tubbo’s face, horrified, his hand grasping Tommy’s tightly. Wilbur, his eyebrows knit tightly, rage in his eyes. Phil, his fists clenched angrily, and Techno, his usually calm face darkened in rage, his fists balled tightly.  
“I swear, I’m going to-” Techno was cut off as Tommy’s phone dinged. He flinched, recognizing the sound he had set for his father. Carefully, as though his phone was going to burst into flames, he looked at the text. “Come get your streaming shit. I don’t need it clogging up my house.”  
With shaking fingers, he typed back, “I’ll be there in a few minutes.” It was a bad idea, he knew, but he needed his streaming equipment. He was lucky his dad didn’t set it on fire or something.  
“Who was that?” Phil asked suspiciously.  
Tommy took a deep breath. “....It was my dad. He wants me to get my streaming equipment.”  
Wilbur tensed. “You’re not going back there.”  
Tommy frowned. “I have to. It’s my streaming equipment, and he’ll probably set it on fire or something if I don’t go get it soon.”  
“Are you crazy? He’ll probably attack you!” Tubbo cried.  
“I’m fast enough. I’ll get away.” Tommy replied, crossing his arms to hide how his hands were shaking.  
“Carrying all your streaming equipment?” Techno asked skeptically. Tommy glared at him.  
“You’re not going unless you let us come with you.” Phil decided. He wasn’t going to budge, Tommy could tell. Fingering the straps of his go-bag, he said, “Fine.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
They drove to Tommy’s house. His dad was waiting out front. Just seeing him, his face furious, Tommy went pale. He clenched his hands, trying to get them to stop shaking. Why was he so scared now? This was normal. His dad would get mad, he would beat Tommy, it would go back to how it usually was. Why was Tommy this scared? He’d never been this scared before, never had his hands shake, never gone pale at the sight of his dad. His animal instincts, possibly? Or maybe the fact his friends were going to see his dad angry..  
He stepped out of the car, Tubbo following almost immediately. His dad wordlessly pointed towards the front door, and Tommy carefully stepped inside, carefully stepping over the pieces of plates that remained in the entryway. Tubbo winced. “What happened here?” His friend asked, more rhetorical than anything. Tommy answered anyway.  
“Oh, he threw a stack of plates at me while I was trying to get out.”  
He missed Tubbo’s look of horror.  
Soon enough, they’d dismantled all of his streaming gear and were carrying it cautiously towards the door. Tommy stopped dead in his tracks as he saw his father standing in the doorway. His eyes flickered to what his dad held in his hands. A lock. Oh nononononONONONO- Tommy’s head was filled with memories of the Dark Space. The suffocating terror. The hunger. The thirst. The eventual sleep, because it was the only thing he could do… He snapped back to the present as his dad started to move forwards. He was cornered, the only options to fight, run, or give in. Where were the others? Weren’t they supposed to protect him and Tubbo? He couldn’t let his dad hurt Tubbo, which he would have to if he wanted to get to Tommy, judging by the way Tubbo was angling himself in front of Tommy protectively. Then he saw Techno come up behind his dad, and Tommy relaxed in relief as Techno ripped Tommy’s dad away from the door, jerking his head in the direction of the car as he made eye contact with Tommy. Quickly, Tommy and Tubbo with Tommy’s computer and streaming stuff. Once they made it to the car, Techno released Tommy’s dad and walked back to the car. Tommy was shaking a little bit as they got back in. “Thanks, Tech..” He muttered, drawing his knees up to his chest. Techno gave him a small smile as they started the drive all the way back to Brighton. At some point, Tommy fell asleep, soothed by the rhythmic motions of the car and the feeling of his friends around him.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
When Tommy woke, they were at Techno’s new house. Techno explained they had decided Tommy could stay with Techno for now, if that was alright. Tommy agreed quickly; he would stay anywhere as long as it wasn’t the side of the road. He picked the tallest room, playing it off as a joke, (“I’m like 10 feet tall, I need the tallest room I can get!”) but really he just wanted to have his bed up high. It made him feel safe. By the next day, he’d picked out a bed - it was tall and circular and weird and you had to use a ladder to get up. There was no guard rail around the edges and he loved it. Wilbur and Phil seemed… worried, to say the least, and Techno seemed amused (“Let’s see how long it takes for you to fall off and die!”) so he got the bed. He set it up immediately. It was suspended from the ceiling and hung in the corner of his room. The ladder hung down from one side and could be rolled up and tucked into a pouch in the side of the bed. He had no idea who the fuck thought this was a good idea, but he loved it.  
Phil and Wilbur decided to stick around for a few nights, and Tubbo got permission to stay for another week. Or two. Tubbo’s parents didn’t really mind. They were all downstairs currently, in their sleeping bags, and Tommy was alone in his room. He released his hybrid limbs; he had to have them out sometimes, or else it would make him extremely sore. Tommy sighed in relief as he flicked one of his soot-colored wings into his lap, looking down at the feathers for a few moments before he lay down on his bed, draping his wings over himself. The weight was comforting and he fell asleep quickly.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
The next morning, he was awoken by Tubbo standing in the middle of his room, yelling “WAKE UP!” at the top of his lungs.  
“Mrrghhh..” Tommy muttered. “Go awayyyyyy…” He rolled over to stare down at Tubbo, forgetting he had his animal features out.  
Tubbo stared at Tommy’s ears. Before Tommy could react, Tubbo whispered, “...You’re like me?”  
“..Huh?” Tommy asked, dumbfounded, as Tubbo grew his own soot-colored wings, as well as a pair of wolf ears and a tail.  
Tommy stared. “..Woah.” He whispered, and attempted to glide down to the ground (it didn’t work very well). He outstretched one of his wings, comparing it to Tubbo’s. They were the same. “We have the same wings!” Tommy grinned. “This is so cool! Do you know how to fly yet?”  
Tubbo shook his head, looking embarrassed. Tommy shrugged. “I don’t know how either.”  
“Maybe we could learn together?” Tubbo offered.  
Tommy grinned, his tiredness forgotten. “That would be awesome, big man.”  
They both jumped as Techno called their names from downstairs. Quickly, they each hid their hybrid features and ran down to get breakfast.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Over the next few days, Tommy told Tubbo about the lore, cultures, and general workings of their animal genes, aghast that his friend didn’t know anything about it. When Tubbo had quietly asked if any of their friends had it, Tommy’d shaken his head. “I don’t know. They’re only revealed through traumatic experiences, so some people go their whole lives without knowing.”  
They wanted to try to teach themselves how to fly but didn’t know where, and after Tommy’s horrible suggestion to try to learn in his room, Tubbo remembered that the backyard was basically a chunk of forest with a fence around it. They headed out to the backyard under the excuse of “We’re going to explore!” (To be fair, they did explore a little bit).  
As they walked through the forest area, Tommy saw an Elm tree to their right. It was huge, with thick leaves and intertwining branches that reached towards the sky. He poked Tubbo and pointed towards the tree. “Do you think that would be a good tree to practice from?”  
Tubbo turned towards it. “That looks perfect!”  
And so off they went, releasing their wings and climbing up into the tree (Tommy climbed up much easier than Tubbo did; Tubbo blamed it on Tommy’s cat genes). They sat on a branch about 10 feet off the ground, wings out and staring at a branch about 8 feet away and a little below them.  
“So.. we just try to jump to the branch using our wings?” Tubbo inquired.  
“Uh, yeah, I guess? I heard owls first learn to fly by jumping from branch to branch, so I figured it would work for us.” Tommy replied with a shrug.  
And so they did. For the next few hours, they worked on jumping, and eventually gliding to the branch. Tubbo had pointed out the cut on the back of Tommy’s leg worriedly, but Tommy had assured Tubbo that it was a small cut and it was fine. Tubbo seemed unconvinced, but he dropped the subject.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
By noon, they could glide easily from branch to branch, but they couldn’t fly yet, which was what they were trying to do when they heard Wilbur calling for them. Quickly, they scrambled down from the tree and tucked their wings away. “We’re over here, Wil!” Tommy yelled, and Wilbur walked over and explained that they were having a movie night.  
“...It’s only noon?” Tubbo said, confused. Wilbur shrugged.  
“Movie afternoon, then.” Wilbur said with a dismissive wave of his hand.  
So they followed Wilbur back to Techno’s house, where it turned out that the others had set up the living room with a tv and couch. How they’d done it so quickly, Tommy had no idea, but he wasn’t going to complain. The five of them settled down on the couch, squished together, with a bowl of popcorn. Originally, they were going to watch a horror movie, but Tommy insisted that they watch Up. So.. they did. Three times. As they played back the movie to watch it a fourth time, Tommy had never felt so safe. He yawned, even though it was only 5:00 pm, and curled into Wilbur’s side comfortably. He felt Wilbur put his arm around Tommy, and as he began to doze off he felt fingers gently carding through his hair.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
When he woke up, he was on the floor of his room, swathed in blankets (“They couldn’t figure out how to get you onto your bed,” Tubbo later explained) with Tubbo sitting next to him impatiently. His friend brightened when he saw Tommy’s eyes were open.  
“Finally! You’re awake!” Tubbo said as he attempted to pull Tommy into a standing position. “Let’s go fly some more!”  
Tommy rubbed his eyes blearily as he stood up. “Mrghh.. What time is it?”  
“Uh.. like, 9 pm?” Was the unsure reply.  
Tommy groaned and sat up. “I hate taking naps. I’m never going to be able to fall asleep now.”  
“So.. flying?” Tubbo inquired hopefully.  
Tommy grinned tiredly. “Yeah, yeah, I’m coming, big man.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
By the end of the week, they could fly. They’d fly through the trees, playing tag. The duo would exercise their other limbs, too - Tommy would run through the forest with his cat attributes and Tubbo would chase him with his wolf limbs (apparently his friend’s hands and feet would turn into paws and he would gain the instinct to run on all fours, something Tommy would endlessly tease him about) until one of them got too tired to continue. It was surprisingly fun; Tommy also practiced landing on branches and such while he had his bird talons out.  
And then things went to shit.  
They returned to the house one day to hear shouting. Exchanging a worried look with Tubbo, he ran inside with his friend close behind.  
His dad was here, and currently engaged in a heated argument with Wilbur and Techno - Phil must have been out buying groceries.  
Tommy stopped dead when he saw his father. The man spotted his son and turned towards Tommy, his smile sickeningly sweet, his voice like venom laced with honey. “Come here Toms, it’s time to go home.” Tommy’s hands began to shake. Runrunrunrun- Tubbo grasped one of his hands reassuringly; Tommy had told him about how his instinct was to run.  
Techno moved in front of Tommy protectively as his dad stepped towards the boy, with Wilbur close behind.  
His dad stopped.  
“You’re not coming anywhere near him.” Wilbur snapped, and Techno grunted agreement.  
“Come here, Toms, we are going home.” His dad said, with an edge to his voice. Tommy grasped Tubbo’s hand harder, unsure if he wanted to run or fly or shout or kick his dad. “Or I’ll report you.”  
And then Tommy was reeling, the words on repeat in his brain. Or I’ll report you. He- he wouldn’t, right? His dad had been just as scared as Tommy when mum had been taken away. He wouldn’t report Tommy, right? He’d threatened it before and still hadn’t, he wouldn’t! Right? His father had to still care, somewhere, right? Right?  
“Yo-you wouldn’t.” Tommy managed to choke out.  
His dad scoffed. “I’ve done it before, I’ll do it again.”  
Mum. And Tommy was reeling again, sinking into an ocean of his own thoughts. He couldn’t have reported mum. He was just as devastated as Tommy was. Right? Wasn’t he? Had he been lying the whole time? He wouldn’t report mum, right? He’d loved her, hadn’t he?  
He was brought back to the present when Tubbo squeezed his hand. His friend looked as horrified as Tommy felt; Wilbur and Techno, on the other hand, just looked confused. Realization dawned on his father’s face. “They don’t know, do they?” A wicked grin spread across the man’s face. “They don’t know what you really are.”  
“S-stop it!” Tommy cried, clasping his hands over his ears. “You reported mum!”  
“I did, didn’t I?” The man’s smile grew impossibly wider. “She was always arguing with me over what was best for you, said my methods of discipline were inhumane, but guess what? After they took her away, she couldn’t argue with me anymore! And neither will you.”  
Wilbur stepped forwards and roughly shoved the man backwards. “That’s enough. Get out.”  
The man sneered as he began to walk towards the door, then paused. “Last chance, Tommy; come home, and you and that other boy won’t be taken.”  
Tommy didn’t move, frozen in place by fear, and his father sighed and walked out of the house.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Tommy promptly collapsed, face in his hands, tears running down his cheeks.  
His mother was gone, and it had all been his dad’s fault.  
And his dad was going to report him and Tubbo.  
We have to go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT LOOKS SO SHORT I SWEAR GUYS THIS AND THE LAST CHAPTER ARE EIGHT AND A HALF PAGES IN MY GOOGLE DOC


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> things go to shit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW // Death, character injury (nothing super graphic)

By the end of the night, Tommy had packed go-bags for both him and Tubbo. The others, especially Phil (who was very confused), asked him questions. He ignored them, focusing on making sure he and Tubbo would have everything they needed. He wasn’t sure where they would go; perhaps they could just have to live out in the woods, stealing supplies to stay alive, or maybe they would just live like wild birds. He didn’t have a plan, but the thing that mattered most was making sure they both had enough to survive off of for a few days. He sat down on the floor of his room, looking through the bags and muttering calculations under his breath, with Tubbo next to him helpfully adding things they might want. Usually, he just had to pack enough for the walk to Tubbo’s house, but this time he had to pack enough food for two people for a few days. The others couldn’t come with them; they couldn’t fly and wouldn’t be able to eat what Tommy and Tubbo could eat (thanks to their animal genes, Tommy and Tubbo could eat things like raw meat). Besides, if they got attacked out in the forest, the others wouldn’t be able to get away.  
He was tense all night, thinking every sound was the men coming to take them away. They couldn’t leave until the next morning, as it was dark and they wouldn’t be able to see where they were going. The night passed, however, and they eventually fell asleep.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Tommy opened his eyes. He wasn’t sure why; he had the feeling he’d been awoken by something, but he couldn’t hear anything.  
And then he heard a knock on the door downstairs.  
He shot upwards, heart pounding. It’s them. He couldn’t explain how he knew; he just.. did. Quickly, he shook Tubbo awake. They snatched up their go-bags and ran downstairs, seeing Wilbur about to open the door.  
“Don’t answer the door!” Tommy shouted, shoving Wilbur’s hand away from the doorknob. His friend gave him a confused look, and Tommy heard Tubbo shout something that sounded like “They’re coming!” Tommy turned to run.. And ran straight into Phil, with Techno standing behind him.  
“Tommy, what’s going on?” His friend asked worriedly.  
“I- can’t explain right now, gotta run!” Tommy replied quickly as he tried to shove past Phil, hearing Tubbo growing more frantic in the background.  
“You’re not going anywhere until you tell us what’s going on.” Phil said firmly.  
“For fucks’ safe, Phil! Just let me go!” Tommy snapped, but Phil didn’t budge.  
“Tommy, what’s going on?” Wilbur asked again.  
“I’ll tell you later!” Tommy lied over his shoulder (There was no later) as he broke free from Phil’s grip and sprinted through the house to the backyard, where Tubbo was waiting. “We’ve got to be quick, the others might follow us.” Tommy said quickly, and they both took off.  
The pair ran surefooted through the forest, the route memorized via multiple runs down it. They had just passed the Elm tree when they heard shouting. The men were after them. Immediately, without a word exchanged between them, they switched, releasing their animal limbs. The men were gaining, despite their practice. Of course; these people were trained for this. They would be very fast. Tommy screeched (a bit like a bird) in surprise as a pair of men burst out of the bushes in front of them. His ears swiveled backwards as he heard the men from behind them burst out of the bushes. They were cornered.   
Heart pounding, he backed up until he bumped into Tubbo. The pair of boys stood back-to-back, watching the men around them. Tubbo squeezed Tommy’s hand. It was now or never.   
A frightened animal will fight back when cornered.  
Tommy’s shoes turned into talons and, with one flap of his wings, he launched himself forwards at the nearest person, claws outstretched.  
He winced at the feeling of flesh tearing under his claws. It’s self defense. He told himself, over and over as the man screamed in pain and blood spurted onto his claws. Risking a glance at Tubbo, he saw the younger boy raking his claws across people’s faces, blinding them with their own blood. Tommy winced, but it was a good idea. He slashed his claws across the man’s face and flapped his wings to carry him away, leaving the man clutching his bloodied face and shooting his gun wildly. Seeing an opening to get away, he flew over to Tubbo, doing his best to avoid the people who were wildly shooting (though not being fully successful, he did discover that his wings deflected bullets). He tugged on his friend’s shoulder with his un-bloody talon. “We should go, while they’re distracted.” Tommy whispered, trying not to think about all the people that would probably be left with permanent scars.  
Tubbo nodded and Tommy pointed to a gap in the canopy where they could fly out, but before they could move one of the men (who all seemed to be out of ammo) had managed to climb onto a low branch, and, if he jumped, he could reach Tubbo’s wings with the long knife he held. Which he did.  
Tommy yelled a warning, but it was too late - the man jumped and slashed the knife across one of Tubbo’s wings, sending soot-colored feathers flying. Tubbo cried out in pain, and Tommy screeched furiously, sounding like a mix of a cat and a bird as he furiously raked his talons across the man’s neck.   
The man’s triumphant smile turned into a cry of fear and pain as he slowly crumpled backwards and fell off the branch.  
He never felt himself hit the ground.  
Tommy forced himself not to look at the body, instead draping Tubbo’s injured wing over his back and helping the other boy to fly away. Tommy’s mind raced; they wouldn’t make it far while Tubbo was injured like this. They had to find somewhere for him to heal and rest, at least for a night. Then he had an idea; the elm tree! It was dense enough that they wouldn’t be seen, and there was a nice cluster of branches in the middle; plus, it was climbable (at least for them) without too much difficulty, so if Tubbo wasn’t able to fly he could climb up the tree. He whispered this to Tubbo, who agreed drowsily.   
“Come on big man, you’ve got to stay awake.” Tommy whispered as he flew them towards the elm tree.  
He didn’t notice the trio of men on the forest floor below them.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Within a few minutes (though it felt like hours to Tommy), they made it to the tree, and Tommy carefully deposited Tubbo on a large branch that formed a small V with another branch. Slinging his go-bag off his shoulder, he unzipped it and rifled through the contents, muttering under his breath. Finally, he pulled out the first-aid kit with a quiet “Aha!” and set to work, gently cleaning the cut on Tubbo’s wing - it was a lot longer than he first thought, running from the shoulder all the way to the crook of his wing. Tubbo flinched every time Tommy touched the antiseptic to the cut on his wing, but eventually worked up enough resolve to hold still while Tommy carefully dabbed the cleaner on his wing. After Tommy decided it was clean enough (which was really just a guess) he put some of the anti-infection goop on the cut and began to wrap it up with bandages. He wasn’t really sure how to do it, per-se, so he had Tubbo fold his wing against his body and wrapped the bandages around Tubbo’s waist and wing, effectively wrapping them together and holding the wing in place (while somehow not bending any feathers).   
Soon, Tubbo fell asleep, snuggled in between two branches with his good wing wrapped around himself like a blanket. Tommy, on the other hand, sat alertly on one of the branches, listening for any sign of the men in their area. Thankfully, he heard none nearby, though he could hear their voices in the distance growing farther (calling off the search for tonight, Tommy guessed, how pompous). He curled up next to Tubbo, draped his wings over himself, and began to doze off.   
And then he heard footsteps. Immediately, Tommy sat up, his ears shoved forwards to pick up all the sounds. Two, possibly three, pairs of footsteps, and the low murmur of voices. Quietly, he crept along the branch until he was able to get to a spot where he could see the forest floor in front of him. Tommy’s heart was beating like a panicked rabbit; he just had to hope that they wouldn’t notice him, silhouetted against the moonlight.  
Soon, the trio came into view, walking close together and casting worried glances at the dark (at least to them) forest around them.  
Tommy squinted, trying to see them more clearly. They all wore the dark uniforms of the men, complete with the masks covering their faces. Tommy grimaced. Definitely the men.  
They were about to pass when Tubbo gasped in his sleep, causing all three to spin around, searching for the source of the noise.  
Tommy mentally cursed. He couldn’t let them get close to Tubbo; he had to draw them away. Hopefully they wouldn’t come back to look for his friend.  
He took a deep breath and then jumped out of the tree, his heart pounding in his ears. He was going against everything his instincts were telling him to, and he almost turned around to fly away. He kept going, however, swooping down low over the men with a furious screech before pulling up and landing on a tree branch nearby. Briefly, he wondered why they didn’t have a flashlight; that question was answered as one of them, fumbling, pulled out a flashlight and shined it right in Tommy’s face.  
Tommy screeched angrily, pulling his wings up to shield his eyes from the light. Hearing movement from where Tubbo was situated, Tommy quickly swooped down over the men again, not wanting them to hear Tubbo; but this time, one of them reached up and grabbed the edge of his left wing, throwing him off balance and sending him tumbling to one side. As they shined the light in his face again, Tommy scuttled backwards, shielding his eyes with one wing while hissing like an angry cat. As the men started to advance on him Tommy was frozen, like a mouse being stalked by a cat. There was a sudden movement from the elm tree, and Tommy watched in horror as Tubbo launched himself at the man with the flashlight, knocking him sideways and breaking Tommy out of his trance. The man and Tubbo rolled sideways and Tommy immediately darted towards Tubbo, spreading his wings protectively in front of his injured friend, heart thumping in his chest. The man who Tubbo had bowled into stood and backed up, letting another take his place. Tommy settled into a defensive posture, ready to fight to protect Tubbo. He didn’t know where this sudden aggression was coming from, but he wasn’t complaining.  
He winced as the flashlight was shone into his face again, but, not wanting to create an opening for them to attack Tubbo, he instead narrowed his eyes, trying to block out the majority of the light. The man’s flashlight suddenly dropped, and Tommy took the opportunity to grab Tubbo by the arm and run away. Thankfully, his friend was ok enough to run, and soon they disappeared into the forest.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy and Tubbo meet old friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW // Death, injury

That was four years ago.

For the first year, the internet was in shambles at the disappearance of TommyInnit and Tubbo.

At the beginning of the second year, two long-dead twitter accounts tweeted.

Tommyinnit @TommyInnit  
Hey guys. No, I’m not coming back. Just figured you all should get some closure.  
We’ve been on the run from some bad people, and probably will be until we die.  
We’re doing just fine, though, so please don’t worry about us.  
And don’t bug any of our friends about this. They don’t know any more than you guys do.

Tubbo @TubboLIVE  
Hi guys! we’re not coming back, unfortunately, at least not for a long time. Weve been running from some bad peopel but we’re doing ok!!! Pleas dont annoy any of our friends on this issue because they dont know anything either!! 

For the first two years, Wilbur, Techno, and Phil searched.

At the start of the third year, they gave up.

Halfway through the third year, youtubers Skeppy and Badboyhalo vanished as well.

For four years, Tommy and Tubbo grew stronger, learned how to survive, learned how to push what they’d done to the back of their minds. 

At the beginning of the fifth year, they came back.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
It was an accident, really.  
They went around stealing food and supplies from houses; after all, raw meat wasn’t the funnest to eat, and it was hard to hunt.  
So when they eventually came back to Brighton with an injured friend and saw Techno’s house, chock full of supplies, how were they supposed to resist?  
That, however, just happened to be the weekend that Wilbur and Phil were visiting Techno.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
They picked the lock of the back door and immediately set to work, stealing all first aid supplies they could find. There didn’t seem to be anyone home, thankfully. Tommy was just congratulating himself on their good luck when he heard the door open.  
Immediately, he shoved the supplies in his backpack (they’d stolen new, better backpacks a while ago) spun around, with Tubbo right behind him. Tubbo flattened his ears and snarled a warning as a trio walked into the room. Tommy’s mind immediately went, Fuck. It’s them. He hadn’t expected to ever encounter their old friends again.  
He flicked his tail, motioning for Tubbo to start heading towards the exit. Over the years, they’d developed a sort of code using tail and wing motions; it wasn’t exact, but they could pick up what the other was saying most of the time.

Tubbo ruffled his wings. *I want to see what will happen.*

Tommy grunted, keeping his eyes fixed on the trio in front of them. He wasn’t sure how much they would’ve changed in the past few years; they could easily report them to the Men.

He flicked his tail back and forth a few times. *Nothing good, that’s for sure.*

The stare-off continued until Wilbur finally whispered, “..Tubbo? Tommy?”

Tommy flicked his wing to say, *That’s me.* Before remembering that the others didn’t understand it. Tubbo snorted, twitching his ear. *Good job.*

Tommy shot a sideways glare at him and flicked his tail. *Shush.*

Tommy cleared his throat, his voice rough and hoarse from ages of barely speaking; he didn’t even realize how much he and Tubbo communicated via body language. “That’s me.”

“But-how?” Phil whispered. “We thought you were dead.”

Tommy snorted. “As if. We’re too fast for Them to catch us, even with their fancy shit.”

*We should leave.* Tommy muttered with a flick of his wing. 

*But that’s rude! Plus, maybe we could get them to buy something for us.* Tubbo reminded him, and Tommy grunted. 

*The men were pretty close behind us. They’ll catch up if we stick around any longer.*

Tubbo flicked his ears. *They were far enough behind. 10 minutes can’t hurt.*

Tommy sighed. *Fine.*

“So.. where have you been?” Techno asked, interrupting the tense silence that had fallen over them.

“Everywhere.” Tommy replied cryptically.

Tubbo frowned. “Be polite, Tommy.”

“What? It’s true!” Tommy protested. “We’ve been all over.”

Tubbo rolled his eyes. “Anyways, we’ve been to.. Every country in Europe, most countries in Asia, Australia, South America, though not for very long, and North America.”

Tommy huffed. “So basically everywhere.”

“But.. why?” Wilbur asked. “Why did you leave?”

“To get away from Them.” Tommy replied, as though the answer was obvious.

“Them?” Phil asked.

“Y’know, the bad people. The ones that are after us.” Tommy said, making small motions with his hands as he spoke.

“Because.. Of those?” Wilbur asked, vaguely gesturing to their wings.

Tommy snorted. “Of course. Why else?”

Tubbo opened his mouth, probably to say something about politeness again, but he was interrupted by a sound from behind them - footsteps. Both boys spun around, ears pricked.  
A man, who was apparently trying to be stealthy, walked into the room, freezing when he saw the hybrid boys. He was dressed in all black and holding a knife; obviously up to no good. A grin spread over his face; Tommy and Tubbo were aware of the reward for their capture. Techno immediately moved forwards to fight the man, but it was unnecessary. Tommy and Tubbo were advancing towards the man. Tubbo’s ears were flat against his head, snarling deep in his throat. They’d seen this many times before; people following them into a house to try and capture the hybrids and take the reward for themselves. Tubbo was the one who would be doing the attacking here; Tommy’s talons weren’t the best for ground combat. The man didn’t know that though, and he stood uncertainly, the blade of the knife glittering malevolently. Tommy feinted to the side and that was all it took for the man to turn quickly to the side, knife held threateningly towards Tommy.  
In that same moment, Tubbo pounced, knocking the man over. The knife clattered from his grip and Tommy picked it up, inspecting the blade. It wasn’t the sharpest, he decided as he ran his finger along the blade, and placed it on the nearest counter. He returned his attention to Tubbo and the man; Tubbo had pinned the man down, his claws sunken into the man’s skin, drawing little pinpricks of blood. Calmly, almost condescendingly, he slit the man’s throat, standing up as the man’s struggles faded to nothing.  
Tommy grabbed the body with one talon and lifted it up, checking all the pockets for loot. Finding none, he made a dissatisfied noise and tossed the body to one side.  
He glanced at Tubbo. “We should get going. They’ll be close behind us.”  
Tubbo frowned. “We’ve still got, like, 20 minutes. Stop being so dramatic.”  
“I- dramatic? I’ll have you know that I’m trying to make sure you don’t get shot in the chest again.” Tommy replied with a huff, crossing his arms.  
Tubbo crossed his arms as well, and the boys had a silent staredown before Tommy relented.  
Tommy huffed, then glanced at Techno. “You guys got any chocolate?”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Five minutes later, Tommy and Tubbo sat on Techno’s couch, contentedly munching away at hershey bars (after they cleaned the blood off, of course).  
Tommy flicked his tail and glanced at the other three, who were sitting in chairs across from them, looking lost.  
“So.. for the past five years, you’ve been running from people.. like that guy?” Wilbur finally asked, gesturing vaguely in the direction of the man’s body, which still lay in the kitchen.  
Tommy shrugged as he leaned back against the couch, chocolate bar wrapper crinkling in his hands. “Not for the first 39 moon-cycles. It was only Them, but then they couldn’t catch us, so they set up a reward for our capture.”  
At first, they’d kept time in months and years, but as they spent more time in the wild, traveling around, Tommy and Tubbo had switched to keeping track of time by simply counting the full moons.  
“Who are ‘Them’?” Techno asked, voicing the question all three of them had.

“You know.. the bad people, the ones who want to capture us and experiment on us and shit.” Tommy said vaguely.

“Basically, a bunch of countries have an agreement to let these dudes work internationally to capture hybrids, so that scientists can run experiments on them.” Tubbo translated.

“But can’t you hide your wings and stuff?” Phil asked, and Tommy shook his head.

“They know what we look like; hiding our animal traits wouldn’t do anything but make us more vulnerable.” As if remembering some old memory, Tommy’s wings shivered as he unconsciously traced his finger along a pale white scar on his arm.  
Tubbo glanced sympathetically at his friend, brushing a wing against Tommy’s shoulder reassuringly.  
Tommy’s ear twitched, and he suddenly remembered why they were there. “We need to get going, Tubbo; they’ll be waiting for us at the elm tree. We’ve got what we came here for.”  
“Oh!” Tubbo stood up. “Right!”  
“Wait- what are you guys talking about?” Phil asked, standing up as well.  
“Uh-“ Tommy glanced at Tubbo. *Should we tell them?*  
Tubbo shrugged. *They’ve been fine so far; I think we can trust them.*  
“...One of our flock is injured, so we broke in to get supplies.” Tommy said, picking his words carefully, unsure of how much he should reveal. Tubbo had been wrong about people before.  
Phil’s face morphed into a fatherly frown. “Could I look at their injuries?”  
Tommy glanced at Tubbo, hesitant. Tubbo nodded. Tommy flicked his tail, still a bit uncertain, but reassured in the fact that they could fly away if anything happened.  
“Alright. Follow us.” Tommy said, and the quintet headed off into the forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> by the way, i dont have an upload schedule i just upload chapters as soon as i finish them
> 
> and the way the moon cycles thing works is there's 13 full moons in one year, so 39 moon cycles is three years


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Techno still has no lines

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BAD AND SKEPPY WOOOOO  
> ok so:  
> Bad has kestrel wings and Skeppy has raven wings  
> Bad is a jaguar & has yellow eyes, jaguar ears, and a tail  
> Skeppy is a black panther & also has yellow eyes, panther ears, and a tail
> 
> sorry for the long wait but ayoo im back

They set off at a quick pace through the forest, moving on a familiar path towards the elm tree. As they reached the trunk, Tommy softly called out, “We’re back.”  
Yellow eyes glittered as they peered down from the branches. “You’ve brought humans.”

“It’s ok. We can trust them.” Tommy assured the other, but Bad wasn’t convinced.

“I’ve heard that before.” The man said as he moved to a lower branch and crouched on it like a cat.

“Just because A6d betrayed us doesn’t mean they will, too!” Tubbo argued.

Before Bad could respond, Phil sucked in a shocked breath. “Bad?” 

The man shifted his wings, eyes narrowing distrustfully. “That’s me.”  
He turned his gaze to Tommy and made a grabbing motion with his hands. “Give me the stuff.”  
Tommy obliged, fishing the first aid materials out of his backpack and passing them up to Bad, who disappeared into the higher branches of the tree.  
Phil turned to Tommy. “..Was that Bad?”

Tommy shrugged. “I mean, yeah, obviously.”

“What was that about A6d?” Wilbur asked, hoping he’d heard it wrong.

Tommy winced. “A few months ago we, uh, went to A6d for shelter and he said we could stay the night, but later he sold us out to Them. We only escaped because Skeppy overheard A6d talking to them.”

“Skeppy’s here too?” Techno asked in his flat, monotone voice.

“He’s the one who’s injured! Got shot in the leg about a week ago.” Tubbo said, gesturing vaguely into the tree.

“He got shot in the leg?” Phil repeated, looking aghast.

“Uh.. yeah?” Tommy replied.

“He needs to go to a hospital!” Phil blurted. “He can’t just heal a bullet wound!”

Before Tommy could say anything, Bad appeared again. “Do we have any chervil?”

“Leaves or root?” Tubbo asked, slinging his bag off his shoulder and beginning to look through it.

“Leaves.” Came the impatient reply.

Tubbo frowned as he peered into his backpack. “Uh, nope.”

Bad frowned, his tail flicking back and forth. “Horsetail, marigold?”

Tubbo pulled out a few small stems and handed them to Bad. “This is all we have of horsetail, and we don’t have any marigold.”

Tommy frowned at the meager supplies. “That’s not good.”

Tubbo cast him a withering look. “No shit.”

“Language!” Bad hissed as he ascended back into the tree.

Phil watched him go, mildly confused. “What are the plants for?”  
Tommy looked at him blankly. “..Healing?” He stated, as though it was obvious.

“You use plants for healing?” Wilbur said, looking mildly horrified.

“What else are we supposed to use? I mean, we manage to steal some human medicine sometimes, but using plants is more reliable.” Tubbo said with a shrug.

“My god..” Wilbur muttered.

Bad descended into view again. “It’s not enough. His infection’s too bad and we need more herbs or human medicine.”

“I could get some from the house?” Techno offered, and Bad shook his head.

“Don’t trust humans. Besides, whatever you have won’t be strong enough. We’d need something from a hospital.”

“I’ll go look for more herbs. There’s a little stream nearby where I might be able to find horsetail and marigold.” Tubbo offered, and when Bad nodded, the boy flew away.

Tommy shifted anxiously from side to side as seconds turned into minutes, his ears rotating this way and that. He had a bad feeling, and he didn’t like being away from Tubbo for too long.

His bad feeling was proved true as Tubbo erupted from the trees, screeching, “They’re here!”

Tommy cursed and scrambled into the tree to find Bad already grabbing Skeppy, hoisting the taller man onto his back. “I’ll be fine, Tommy; help the others.” Bad grunted as he leaped into the air.

Tommy nodded and jumped out of the tree. “Who can climb the best?” He panted as he landed in front of Phil, Techno, and Wilbur. 

“Uhh.. probably me.” Techno said. Tommy nodded.

“Alright. Start climbing that tree.” He said, pointing at the elm tree. “Get as high up as you can.”

“What about us?” Wilbur protested, and Tommy’s ears flicked back as he began to hear the men.

He flicked his tail and glanced at Tubbo, who nodded, guessing what Tommy had in mind.  
Tommy grinned. “Me and Tubbo carry you.”

Phil blanched. “Um, what?” He asked as Tubbo tucked his wings and dove down at Phil, grasping the man’s shoulders with his hind paws and whisking him into the air, flapping his wings a bit harder than usual to compensate for the extra weight. Phil yelped in surprise as he was lifted into the air, and he winced as his leg smacked against a branch.

Tommy flew into the air, flapping his wings a few extra times to gain momentum, then swooped down at Wilbur, talons outstretched. He grasped Wilbur’s shoulders firmly and grunted with the effort of carrying someone so much bigger and heavier than he was; he’d have to land somewhere nearby.  
A glance at Tubbo told him his friend was having the same problems. He turned to Bad, who was apparently having no problems carrying Skeppy. “Bad! Me and Tubbo have to land somewhere soon!” He called. “Plus, one of us has to get Techno!”  
His friend nodded and pointed towards a cluster of tall apartment buildings. “We can land over on those for now!”   
Tommy nodded and fell back to let Bad lead the way, double checking to make sure Tubbo was flying at his side. He shifted his grip on Wilbur as he felt his talons start to slip, and he heard Wilbur give a small sound of fright. Bad swooped down and landed on the roof of one of the buildings, Tommy following soon after as he carefully dropped Wilbur on the roof next to Skeppy, who was unconscious. Phil, on the other hand, kind of tumbled when Tubbo dropped him, since the boy didn’t have as strong of a grip on him and let him go kind of early. As Tubbo landed next to Tommy, Bad opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a commotion from the area they’d just left.  
“Shit.” Tommy muttered, “They must have found Techno.”  
Wilbur and Phil stared at the trees, as though the power of their gazes would magically teleport Techno to them.  
Bad turned to Tommy and Tubbo. “I’ll go in and get Techno; you two distract Them.” Bad had grown used to Tommy and Tubbo’s vocabulary and now used most of the words they did; though sometimes he still stumbled over “moon-cycles”. The boys nodded, faces set grimly.  
Bad flicked his wing in a “go ahead” motion, and the two leapt from the building, swooping down into the forest.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
They landed in the canopy, peering down at the scene below them to gauge how many soldiers there were.  
There weren’t too many; it was probably a small squadron going to meet up with the other soldiers. They had the tree that Techno was on surrounded, and.. Oh. Techno was wounded. Fun, Tommy thought sourly. It looked like Techno had been shot in the arm. The man was clinging to a couple of branches for dear life, gaze scanning the sky, probably waiting for them to come back and get him.  
Tubbo ruffled his wings. *Techno’s been shot in the arm.*

Tommy glanced at him. *You go left, I go right, mass chaos?*

Tubbo grinned and raised his hand for a fist bump, which Tommy gave. *Of course.*

The two boys split up, moving to opposite sides of the cluster of men. Tommy glanced down at the men, then back at Tubbo. *Ready?*

Tubbo nodded, and Tommy launched himself off the tree, rocketing downwards. Just above the heads of the men, he gave a loud screech and ripped at the nearest person with his talons before quickly pulling up and disappearing into the trees. As he circled back around, he saw Tubbo doing the same, and before Tubbo had even pulled out of his dive Tommy dove in again, this time with a target in mind - one of the men on the outer edges of the group. Usually, he would just go in and do as much damage as possible, but this time he had an idea - and it could work very well. He grabbed the man by the shoulders, just as he had done with Wilbur, but with significantly less care. His talons dug into the man’s skin, drawing little pinpricks of blood. As he whisked into the air, he could hear the man’s yell of fright, could feel him trying to escape Tommy’s claws, could hear the shouts of the men below as they realized what had happened.   
He burst out of the canopy and almost ran straight into Bad, who was circling around to find a good point to go in and grab Techno. He barely acknowledged Bad as he flew higher and higher until his talons started to ache from holding the soldier. With a grunt, he dropped the man, watching the screaming man fall, and fall, and fall, until he wasn’t falling anymore.  
Tommy swooped back down to see Bad quietly creeping from branch to branch, making his way down to Techno, who was watching the chaos with something like awe on his face.  
He and Tubbo began a full-on frenzied attack, screeching and lashing out with their claws. Above the chaos, he heard Bad screech, a signal to retreat. Instantly, he flew away to the left, making sure every few seconds that he wasn’t being pursued. Soon, he was back at the top of the building, watching as Bad placed an injured Techno on the ground.  
“He got shot in the arm.” Bad stated, and told Techno to lay down flat on his back. 

“Wait- he needs to go to a hospital, or get professional help, or something!” Wilbur protested, guessing what Bad was about to do.

“Even if he did, which he doesn’t, we wouldn’t go to a hospital anyways.” Bad said dismissively as he took a small bottle out of his backpack.

“..What is that?” Techno muttered, eyeing the bottle suspiciously.

“Sleeping pills. They’ll help to knock you out while I extract the bullet.” Bad said, handing him two. 

After a moment, Techno took the pills and swallowed them. “You might still feel the pain, but it won’t be as bad.” Bad assured Techno. “All that you need to do is stay calm.”

Techno nodded nervously and put his head down, scrunching his eyes closed tightly as he braced for the pain.  
Wilbur started to protest again, but Phil laid a hand on his friend’s arm reassuringly (even though his stomach churned in fear), saying that they had to trust Bad to know what he was doing.

He couldn’t stop himself from wincing when Bad began to extract the bullet, though.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
About an hour later, Bad was done, the bullet was out, and Techno was sleeping. Wilbur was looking nauseous, and Phil was pale, so Bad sympathetically suggested that Tommy and Tubbo take them to one of the adjacent buildings, and the two humans could ask questions and such. Wilbur and Phil quickly agreed, and that's how the four of them wound up on the roof of another building sitting on the floor.

“So.. uh.. Let’s start with the obvious question.” Phil said. “Why the fuck do you guys have animal limbs?”

“Like.. old DNA and shit. A lot of people are hybrids but the limbs only come out in traumatic situations, so a lot of people never discover it.” Tommy said with a shrug, flicking his tail around into his lap.

“How did you guys meet up with Skeppy and Bad?” Wilbur asked.

“It was during our migration; we all fly the same route instinctively, so we found Skeppy and Bad along there. Bad said that they’d just escaped a few weeks previously.” Tubbo said.

“Migration?” Phil inquired, leaning forwards curiously.

“We all meet up in the summertime for migration. We usually meet up around here and then fly up through Russia to Alaska, then down through the U.S to South America, and then we chill in the rainforest for the winter before we come back in the summer.” Tommy said, making vague gestures with his hands.

“Who’s ‘we’? I thought you four stuck together?” Wilbur asked, scrunching his eyebrows together.

“No, no; ‘we’ is the other flocks.” Tommy hurriedly explained, and, seeing the matching confusion on Wilbur and Phil’s faces, he elaborated more; “There’s tons of other hybrids out there, and we all live in different corners of the world. We don’t interact much between flocks, but if we see another flock that needs help then we help each other. But for migration, we all come together and migrate together. Then, once we reach the end, we all split off until it’s time to migrate again.”

“Why do you all meet up and migrate? Isn’t it safer to stay in one spot?” Phil interjected.

Tommy shrugged. “Probably, but we’re birds; the only reason any of us are alive is because we’re driven by instinct, so when we have the instinct to migrate we can’t ignore it.”

Phil blinked. “Are.. are all hybrids bird hybrids?”

This time, Tubbo replied, “All hybrids have some sort of bird wings, and then the genes of another animal.” 

“Why do you all live in small flocks? Wouldn't it be safer to live in one big group?” Phil pointed out.

Tommy flicked his wings. “Again, instinct. Flocks form close bonds with one another and even during migration we all tend to stick together. Sometimes new people will join flocks, but usually when a flock forms it's just them until they all die.”

The group fell into a comfortable silence, aside from Wilbur asking Phil for his portable phone charger, since his phone was dead. Tommy remembered when he’d run, for the first time; He still had his old phone, now long-dead with the screen shattered. He couldn’t seem to let it go, though. It felt like his only connection to his old life, aside from Tubbo.  
Shaking the thoughts from his head, he moved over to the side of the building, checking for pursuit. Thankfully, the men seemed to have left. He yelled as much over to Bad, who nodded and replied that they could stay here for the night, and then continue to the meetup spot in the morning.  
Tommy nodded and sat back down contentedly; the migration needed a lot of sleep. Besides, they didn’t know what they were going to do with the three humans in their party, not to mention one of them was injured. 

Phil was looking at him with an odd expression; when he raised an eyebrow at the human, Phil asked, “Why do you guys, like, defer to Bad?”

“He’s the leader of the flock.” Tubbo replied. “All flocks have a bird that naturally fits into the leader role, and all the others in the flock naturally listen to them.”

Phil frowned and fell silent, staring up at the sky and apparently in deep thought.

They didn’t speak much more that night. Tubbo went down to the stream and managed to find some marigold, so they were able to dress Skeppy’s wound correctly.

As Tommy and Tubbo carefully brought Phil and Wilbur back to the other building, Phil asked why the men hadn’t followed them. This time, both boys looked to Bad for an answer. The man in question rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he began to look through his bag.. “They probably didn’t expect to run into us, since they’re headed to the meetup spot. They probably didn’t have enough time and materials to follow us, especially since we’re going to the same spot as them anyways.”

“They know where the meetup spot is?” Wilbur asked in alarm, standing up from where he had previously been sitting when Tommy set him down.

“Yeah, they wait for us there every year, so we usually stay in the area around it until it’s time to go. Leaving and arriving is always pretty hectic on migrations.” Tubbo said as he watched Bad rifle around in his backpack. Eventually Bad pulled out a trio of small fuzzy blankets - they couldn’t afford to have any bigger of a blanket, because it would take up too much space in their bag. He handed one to each of the humans and carefully draped the third over Techno’s sleeping form; it wasn’t big enough to cover him entirely, but it would keep him warm enough.   
Wilbur blinked down at the blanket he was holding. “..But what will you use?”  
Bad looked at him blankly. “Our wings.”  
Wilbur responded with a small, “oh”, and began to try to find the most comfortable position to sleep while also having the blanket covering as much of his body as possible, with Phil following his example.  
Tommy yawned as Tubbo lay down next to him, curling up on the hard concrete roof and flinging a wing over the smaller boy. Tubbo mumbled a quiet thanks as he closed his eyes, and out of the corner of his eye Tommy could see Bad laying down next to Skeppy with a wing thrown over his friend.  
Tomorrow, they would have to figure out what to do with the three humans, but that was tomorrow. Tonight, they could sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> they get no chill
> 
> and yes im using the herbs from warrior cats dont @ me

**Author's Note:**

> it looks so short in ao3 smh  
> i swear guys its like two and a half pages in my google doc. you've gotta believe me here


End file.
